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Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health

by Kimberly Potts (see more from this contributor)

By: Oscar winner Jane Fonda
Founded: 2001
Why: Longtime teen-pregnancy activist Fonda, who was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund in 1994, endowed the Center to help fund research, training and educational programs that would explore, among other topics, the connection between sexual abuse and teen pregnancy.
Fund-raisers: The initial funding for the Center came directly from Fonda's bank account. In fact, she told a reporter that signing on for her role opposite Jennifer Lopez in the big-screen comedy Monster-in-Law was a decision she made mainly to raise cash for the Jane Fonda Center.
How's it doing? Among its many projects, the JFC has created a high school curriculum that encourages teens to avoid peer pressure about sex, encourages peer advisor relationships to foster positive attitudes about sex in teen girls, and has sponsored professional seminars about the relationship between sexual abuse and teen pregnancy that led many of the physicians and health-care workers in attendance to change their policies to be more proactive about teen health issues.
Jane says: "My goal for the center is to provide the very best training in the Southeast for professionals in the areas of early child development, adolescent reproductive health, and patient advocacy — most especially in the areas of violence and sexual abuse. We want to reach child-care workers, case managers in child protective services, teachers of sexuality education and people who need and want training in parenting skills."
You can give to: gynob.emory.edu/jfc_prog_teenservices.cfm

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